REVERENCE FOR LIFE

Passages in this section prescribe the ethic proper to reverence
for life. There is, first of all, the ethic of ahimsa, nonviolence
toward all living beings. Religious vegetarianism is motivated by this
ethic. Then we have passages on the ethic of proper stewardship,
recognizing that the natural world is given to humans as a trust, to be
tended, maintained, and made fruitful. These deal with doing kindness
to animals in distress, the proper management of natural resources,
agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, and forestry.

As a mother with her own life guards the life of her own child, let all-
embracing thoughts for all that lives be thine.

One should not injure, subjugate, enslave, torture, or kill any animal,
living being, organism, or sentient being. This doctrine of nonviolence
is immaculate, immutable, and eternal. Just as suffering is painful to
you, in the same way it is painful, disquieting, and terrifying to all
animals, living beings, organisms, and sentient beings.

This is the quintessence of wisdom: not to kill anything. Know
this to be the legitimate conclusion from the principle of reciprocity
with regard to non-killing. He should cease to injure living beings
whether they move or not, on high, below, and on earth. For this has
been called the Nirvana, which consists in peace....

A true monk should not accept such food and drink as has been
especially prepared for him involving the slaughter of living beings.
He should not partake of a meal which contains but a particle of
forbidden food: this is the Law of him who is rich in control. Whatever
he suspects, he may not eat. A man who guards his soul and subdues his
senses, should never assent to anybody killing living beings.

If one is trying to practice meditation and is still eating meat, he
would be like a man closing his ears and shouting loudly and then
asserting that he heard nothing... Pure and earnest bhikshus, when
walking a narrow path, will never so much as tread on the growing grass
beside the path. How can a bhikshu, who hopes to become a deliverer of
others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings? Pure
and earnest bhikshus will never wear clothing made of silk, nor wear
boots made of leather for it involves the taking of life. Neither will
they indulge in eating milk or cheese because thereby they are depriving
the young animals of that which is rightfully belongs to them.

Buy captive animals and give them freedom.
How commendable is abstinence that dispenses with the butcher!
While walking be mindful of worms and ants.
Be cautious with fire and do not set mountain woods or forests ablaze.

Do not go into the mountain to catch birds in nets, nor to the water to
poison fishes and minnows.
Do not butcher the ox that plows your field.

"He that is wise, wins souls" (Proverbs 11.30). The rabbis said, "This
refers to Noah, for in the Ark he fed and sustained the animals with
much care. He gave to each animal its special food, and fed each at its
proper period, some in the daytime and some at night. Thus he gave
chopped straw to the camel, barley to the ass, vine tendrils to the
elephant, and glass to the ostrich. So for twelve months he did not
sleep by night or day, because all the time he was busy feeding the
animals."

According to Abu Hurairah, the Messenger of God said, "A man
traveling along a road felt extremely thirsty and went down a well and
drank. When he came up he saw a dog panting with thirst and licking the
moist earth. "This animal," the man said, "is suffering from thirst
just as much as I was." So he went down the well again, filled his shoe
with water, and taking it in his teeth climbed out of the well and gave
the water to the dog. God was pleased with his act and granted him
pardon for his sins."

Someone said, "O Messenger of God, will we then have a reward for
the good done to our animals?" "There will be a reward," he replied,
"for anyone who gives water to a being that has a tender heart."

For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but in
the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of
your people may eat; and what they leave the wild beasts may eat. You
shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

A certain priest had been killed by the bite of a snake, and when they
announced the matter to the Blessed One, he said, "Surely now, O
priests, that priest never suffused the four royal families of snakes
with his friendliness. For if that priest had suffused the four royal
families of the snakes with his friendliness, that priest would not have
been killed by the bite of a snake....

Creatures without feet have my love,
And likewise those that have two feet,
And those that have four feet I love,
And those, too, that have many feet.

May those without feet harm me not,
And those with two feet cause no hurt;
May those with four feet harm me not,
Nor those who many feet possess.

Let creatures all, all things that live,
All beings of whatever kind,
See nothing that will bode them ill!
May naught of evil come to them!"

Hadith of Muslim: And likewise if he should cause a stream to flow: see
Hadith of Ibn Majah, p. 1015. Exodus 23.10-11: The sabbath for the land
signifies that God is the true landowner, and He gives the land to us as
its stewards. Land, like man and beast, deserves periodic rest; it
should not be overexploited. In addition, the fallow land provided food
to the poor who had no property. Cf. Leviticus 25.1-7. Cullavagga v.6:
Buddha gives in these verses a song for protection against harm from
wild animals. Sioux Prayer: The buffalo, as the source of food,
clothing, and all life's necessities for the Sioux, represents Mother
Earth herself.

The cows have come and brought us good fortune,
may they stay in the stall and be pleased with us;
may they live here, mothers of calves, many-colored,
and yield milk for Indra on many dawns....

They are not lost, nor do robbers injure them, nor
the unfriendly frighten, nor wish to assail them;
the master of cattle lives together long
with these, and worships the gods and offers gifts.

The charger, whirling up dust, does not reach them,
they never take their way to the slaughtering stool,
the cows of the worshipping man roam about
over the widespread pastures, free from all danger.

To me the cows are Bhaga, they are Indra,
they [their milk] are a portion of the first-poured Soma.
These that are cows are Indra, O people!
the Indra I long for with heart and spirit.

Ye cows, you fatten the emaciated,
and you make the unlovely look beautiful,
make our house happy, you with pleasant lowings,
your power is glorified in our assemblies.

If you do not allow nets with too fine a mesh to be used in large ponds,
then there will be more fish and turtles than they can eat; if hatchets
and axes are permitted in the forests on the hills only in the proper
seasons, then there will be more timber than they can use... This is
the first step along the kingly way.

Rig Veda 6.28: Vv. 1, 3-6. This special regard for cows as sacred
animals has persisted in India from Vedic times till today. Ketubot
41b: Stewardship includes creating a safe environment. Cf. Deuteronomy
22.8, a biblical ordinance requiring flat-roofed houses to have
parapets.

When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order
to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against
them; for you may eat of them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the
trees in the field men that they should be besieged by you?

Rajah Koravya had a king banyan tree called Steadfast, and the shade of
its widespread branches was cool and lovely. Its shelter broadened to
twelve leagues.... None guarded its fruit, and none hurt another for
its fruit. Now there came a man who ate his fill of fruit, broke down a
branch, and went his way. Thought the spirit dwelling in that tree,
"How amazing, how astonishing it is, that a man should be so evil as to
break off a branch of the tree, after eating his fill. Suppose the tree
were to bear no more fruit." And the tree bore no more fruit.